Student Learning through Reading Classics: Effects and Challenges of General Education Foundation Programme
Student Learning through Reading Classics: Effects and Challenges of General Education Foundation Programme
Speaker:
Dr Cheung Hang Cheong Derek (General Education Foundation Programme)
Dr Kiang Kai Ming (General Education Foundation Programme)
Dr Leung Cheuk Hang (General Education Foundation Programme)
Dr Ng Ka Leung Andy (General Education Foundation Programme)
Date: 20 November 2017 (Monday)
Language: Cantonese
The General Education Foundation (GEF) Programme consists of two courses, namely, “In Dialogue with Humanity” and “In Dialogue with Nature”. From 2012, the two courses are compulsory for every undergraduate student in The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Since then, the Course and Teaching Evaluation results on the two courses in every academic term have been positive. Apart from measuring the success of the programme at term end, can we grab a more comprehensive picture of students’ learning process in the programme? How effective is the programme, in respect of value-added, for students who go into GEF with different prior knowledge and level of language proficiency? Would the programme design only favour certain types of students? Are the freshmen and sophomores mature enough to appreciate the value of classics-reading and be enlightened on the nature and meaning of life, justice and knowledge? What has happened during the process of the learning enabling the students to attain such outcomes?
The speakers will present in this lunch seminar their research results on the assessment of the programme using the IEO (Input-Environment-Outcome) framework, which emphasizes not only the outcome of the course but also the process of how the changes took place. They will also explain the rationale of their research methods. The team designed and used an entry and an exit student surveys which have been usually conducted at the first and the last lessons. The team also held focus group interviews after the conclusion of the academic term. The survey results and focus group transcripts are then analyzed together with some objective data, such as the course grades and cumulative GPA of the students.
Speaker’s Bio
Dr Cheung Hang Cheong Derek, Dr Kiang Kai Ming, Dr Leung Cheuk Hang, and Dr Ng Ka Leung Andy are Lecturers of the GEF Programme. Together, they form the IEO research team that is dedicated to assess the performance of the GEF Programme. The team adopts Alexander Astin’s IEO framework that emphasizes both the outcome and the process of the students in the assessment of the pedagogical effects.
